Vidal Brujan

The deadline for teams to tender contracts to arbitration-eligible players is this afternoon at 4pm CT. Throughout the day, we’ll surely see a handful of arb-eligible players agree to terms with their clubs to avoid a hearing.

These so-called “pre-tender deals” usually, although not always, involve players who wereborderline non-tender candidates. Rather than run the risk of being cut loose, they can look to sign in the lead-up to the deadline. Those salaries often come in a little below projections, since these players tend to have less leverage because of the uncertainty about whether they’ll be offered a contract at all.

Under the 2022-26 collective bargaining agreement, players who sign to avoid an arbitration hearing are guaranteed full termination pay. That’s a change from prior CBAs, when teams could release an arb-eligible player before the season began and would only owe a prorated portion of the contract. This was done to incentivize teams and players to get deals done without going to a hearing.

All salary projections in this post come viaMLBTR contributor Matt Swartz. This post will be updated throughout the day as deals are announced and/or reported. Salary figures are fromThe Associated Press unless otherwise noted.

• TheAstros signed right-handerEnyel De Los Santos to a one-year deal and outfielderTaylor Trammell to a split deal, perBrian McTaggart of MLB.com. PerChandler Rome ofThe Athletic, De Los Santos gets $1.6MM, plus a $100K bonus if he appears in 60 games, while Trammell $900K if in the majors and $500K in the minors. They were projected for $2.1MM and $900K respectively.
• TheAthletics announced that they have signed right-handerLuis Medina and left-handerKen Waldichuk to one-year deals. Medina gets $835K, while Waldichuk comes in at $825K.
• TheBraves announced that they have signed infielderVidal Bruján, infielderMauricio Dubón, outfielderEli White and left-handersJoey Wentz andJosé Suarez for the 2026 season. Bruján’s deal was announced as a split contract; he’ll make $850K in MLB and $500K in the minors. Dubon will make $6.1MM, perJon Heyman of The New York Post, right around his $5.8MM projection. Suarez gets $900K, perAri Alexander of 7 News, below his $1.5MM projection. White and Wentz also get $900K salaries.
• TheBrewers announced that they have signed first basemanJake Bauers for 2026. He’ll make $2.7MM, perJon Heyman of The New York Post. He was projected for $2MM.
• TheGiants have agreed to a one-year deal with right-handerJT Brubaker, perJustice selos Santos of Mercury News. He commands a $1.82MM salary.
• TheGuardians have agreed to one-year deals with outfielderNolan Jones, catcher/designated hitterDavid Fry and right-handerMatt Festa, perZack Meisel of The Athletic. In afollow-up, Meisel also provides the salary figures. Jones will make $2MM, Fry $1.375MM and Festa $1MM. They were projected for $2MM, $1.2MM and $1MM respectively.
• TheMets and outfielderTyrone Taylor have agreed at $3.8MM, perMark Feinsand of MLB.com, right around his $3.6MM projection.
• TheNationals announced they have signed catcherRiley Adams to a one-year deal. It’s a split deal that pays $1MM in the big leagues and $500K in the minors.
• TheOrioles and right-handerFélix Bautista have agreed to a $2.25MM contract, reportsMark Feinsand of MLB.com. He was projected for $2.1MM.
• ThePadres announced they signed catcherLuis Campusano to a one-year deal. He’ll make $900K next year, perDennis Lin of The Athletic. He was projected for $1MM.
• ThePhillies have agreed to a split deal with catcherGarrett Stubbs, reportsMatt Gelb of The Athletic. Stubbs will make $925K in the majors and $575K in the minors. The major league salary is an exact match for his projection. The Phils announced that they also signed catcherRafael Marchán. He’ll make $860K, perTodd Zolecki of MLB.com. He was projected for $1MM.
• TheRangers announced they signed outfielderSam Haggerty to a one-year deal. It’s a $1.25MM contract.
• TheRays and right-handerCole Sulser have settled at $1.05MM, perMarc Topkin of The Tampa Bay Times. Sulser was projected for $1.2MM. According to the AP, it’s a split deal that pays at a $600K rate in the minors.
• TheReds and left-handerSam Moll have agreed at $875K, perJon Heyman of The New York Post. He was projected for $1.2MM. His 2026 deal also has $150K in potential incentives — $50K each for 45, 55 and 65 appearances.
• TheRoyals and infielderJonathan India agreed to an $8MM deal. You can read more about that inthis post.
• TheTigers and infielder/outfielderMatt Vierling agreed at $3.225MM, perJon Heyman of The New York Post. He was projected for $3.1MM. Detroit signed right-handerBeau Brieske at $1.1575MM, perHeyman, right around his $1.3MM projection. The Tigers signed catcherJake Rogers at $3.05MM, perEvan Petzold of the Detroit Free Press, right around his $2.9MM projection.
• TheTwins signed right-handerJustin Topa to a one-year, $1.225MM deal. MLBTR covered that earlier inthis post. The Twins turned down a $2MM club option for Topa, giving him a $225K buyout instead, but he remained under club control via arb. Between the buyout and next year’s salary, he’ll collect $1.45MM.Darren Wolfson of KSTP reported Topa’s 2026 salary.Aaron Gleeman of The Athletic adds that the guarantee is broken down into a $1MM salary in 2026 followed by a $225K buyout on a $5MM mutual option. The buyout can rise to $300K via unspecified incentives.
• TheWhite Sox announced that they have agreed to terms on a $900K deal with outfielderDerek Hill. He was projected for $1MM.
• TheYankees and infielderOswaldo Cabrera have agreed to a $1.2MM contract, perJack Curry of Yes Network, an exact match for his projection. The Yanks have also signed right-handerClarke Schmidt to a $4.5MM deal, perRobert Murray of FanSided, right around his $4.9MM projection.

Photo courtesy of William Liang, Imagn Images

The Braves have claimed infielderVidal Bruján off waivers from the Orioles, according to announcements from both clubs. Bruján had not been designated for assignment by the Orioles but it appears they tried to quietly sneak him through waivers. Atlanta had an open 40-man spot and used it to scoop him up. He is out of options, so they will need to make a corresponding active roster move once he reports to the team. Baltimore’s 40-man count drops to 37.

Bruján, 27, has changed jerseys a number of times in the past few years. He was traded from the Rays to the Marlins ahead of the 2024 season, then to the Cubs ahead of 2025. This month, he’s gone to Baltimore and now Atlanta via waiver claims.

The moves are a reflection of the fact that he was once a notable prospect who hasn’t yet delivered on his potential. He exhausted his final option year in 2023, which pushed him into fringe roster territory. He has only hit .193/.260/.273 in 598 big league plate appearances across five separate seasons. However, teams keep grabbing him, each hoping to be the one to benefit from a breakout.

Before exhausting his options, he always hit in the minors. From 2021 to 2023, he slashed .273/.357/.450 for a 110 wRC+ at the Triple-A level with a 10.6% walk rate and 16.4% strikeout rate. But since he’s been out of options, he’s been stuck in part-time bench roles. He only got 278 plate appearances with the Marlins last year. The Cubs only sent him to the plate 47 times in over three months on the roster. The O’s seemingly only claimed him to try to pass him through waivers later, as they put him back on the wire a few days after claiming him, despite already having open roster spots.

Perhaps Atlanta will also try to pass him through waivers but they could also give him a few weeks of regular playing time to see if it helps him get in a groove. They are playing out the string on a lost season, currently 14.5 games back of a playoff spot.

Bruján has primarily played the middle infield spots but also the infield corners and in the outfield. Third basemanAustin Riley is currently on the injured list with an abdominal strain. Right fielderRonald Acuña Jr. has been shelved by a calf strain.Nacho Alvarez Jr. has been getting some playing time at third lately to cover for Riley but Alvarez is now hurt as well, dealing with some side soreness.

The club has also gotten very little from the middle infield this year. ShortstopNick Allen is a great defender but he has a career .214/.267/.275 batting line. Second basemanOzzie Albies has great career numbers but a dismal .225/.304/.325 line this year.

Atlanta can perhaps find some playing time for Bruján in there as the season is winding down. Bruján is slated to cross three years of service time by the end of the campaign, meaning he would qualify for arbitration. He looks like a non-tender candidate right now but could perhaps convince the club to keep him around if he shows signs of life in the coming weeks.

Photo courtesy of Gregory Fisher, Imagn Images

The Orioles have claimed infielderVidal Brujan off waivers from the Cubs and right-handerCarson Ragsdale off waivers from the Giants, according to a team announcement. Brujan is out of options and must be added to the big league roster but has not yet reported. Ragsdale, meanwhile, was optioned to Triple-A Norfolk. The Orioles’ 40-man roster now stands at 37, so no corresponding 40-man moves are necessary.

Brujan, 27, was a top-100 prospect in the Rays’ system for many years. He failed to establish himself at the big league level in Tampa, however, and hit just .157/.218/.221 across 99 games (272 plate appearances) between 2021 and 2023 for the club. Prior to the 2024 season, Brujan was shipped alongside relieverCalvin Faucher to the Marlins in a trade and he was able to take on a larger role with a rebuilding Miami club. With regular playing time available to him, his performance modestly improved. He remained a below-average contributor overall, however, with a 73 wRC+ despite a 19.4% strikeout rate and a 9.0% walk rate.

Those solid discipline numbers were outweighed by a complete lack of power, less impressive speed on the basepaths than his days a prospect would’ve otherwise indicated, and a lackluster BABIP. While Brujan was versatile enough to hold onto a bench role for the Marlins, he was shipped to the Cubs last offseason in theMatt Mervis trade. He held onto a bench role with Chicago throughout the first half and had value on paper as a player who could help hold down third base whileMatt Shaw developed in the minor leagues while also spellingPete Crow-Armstrong in center field. Unfortunately, the fit didn’t work out as well in practice as Brujan posted an atrocious 43 wRC+ in 36 games and was designated for assignment just before the trade deadline.

Ragsdale, meanwhile, is a 27-year-old right-handed starter. He was added to the Giants’ 40-man roster last November to protect him from the Rule 5 draft after he posted a strong 3.49 ERA in 14 starts at the Double-A level that year, but a career ERA north of 5.00 at Triple-A in conjunction with a 19.9% strikeout rate against a 13.0% walk rate at the level this year left Ragsdale as little more than a depth starter for a club with a number of viable young arms. San Francisco designated him for assignment to make room for top pitching prospectCarson Whisenhunt on the roster prior to the trade deadline.

Now, both players are ticketed to join the Orioles organization. Brujan figures to join the club’s active roster within the next couple of days and could serve as a versatility utility option for the infield afterRamon Urias was traded to Houston prior to the deadline this past week. Ragsdale, meanwhile, could make his big league debut at some point down the stretch to help the Orioles eat innings amid injuries to key arms likeZach Eflin andGrayson Rodriguez, particularly afterCharlie Morton was shipped off to Detroit.

The Cubs have designated utility manVidal Brujan for assignment, according to a report fromMaddie Lee of the Chicago Sun Times. The move makes room for catcher/DHMoises Ballesteros on the active roster.

Brujan, 27, was acquired from the Marlins this past offseason in the trade that sentMatt Mervis to Miami. He’s served as a utility option on the Cubs’ bench throughout the year. Most of his work came at third base, but he also made cameos at second, shortstop, and all three outfield spots. He appeared in 36 games total this season but made just 47 plate appearances. He was extremely unimpressive at the plate in that limited time, with a .222/.234/.289 (42 wRC+) slash line. He struck out at a 25.5% clip and walked just 2.1% of the time while going 2-for-3 on the bases with three extra-base hits, all of them doubles.

That poor performance on offense isn’t exactly a surprise. Once a consensus top-50 prospect in the sport as a member of the Rays, Brujan has failed to establish himself in the majors across three organizations at this point. His career .192/.259/.271 slash line (50 wRC+) is only marginally better than his 2025 performance, and at this point he seems best suited to a role as a versatile depth option for a club with a thin bench. That’s the role he’s filled in Chicago, but now the Cubs must turn to Ballesteros amid an injury to outfielderIan Happ, who fouled a ball off his shin during last night’s game. It’s unclear how severe Happ’s injury is at this point, and he’s not yet been placed on the injured list. Even so, it’s a given he’ll be out of the lineup for at least today’s game, and as long as he’s unavailable Ballesteros can step in at DH whileSeiya Suzuki slides over to left field in Happ’s stead.

As for Ballesteros, the 21-year-old is one of the club’s top prospects and already made his big league debut earlier this year. He went 3-for-16 with two walks and a strikeout during his five-game cup of coffee in the majors back in May, but a better gauge of his ability is likely his performance in 86 games at Triple-A this year. Ballesteros has slashed .332/.393/.496 in 379 plate appearances with the club’s Iowa affiliate this year while striking out at a microscopic 12.9% clip. He’s walking 9.2% of the time and boasts 36 extra-base hits, including a whopping 26 doubles. An extremely talented all-around hitter who is primarily held back by questions about his ability to stick behind the plate, Ballesteros will now get another chance to show off his talents at the major league level.

The Cubs are expected to be aggressive buyers with the trade deadline set for tomorrow evening, and top prospects like Ballesteros could theoretically find themselves on the move. Ballesteros’s promotion doesn’t necessarily mean the 21-year-old is off-limits in trade talks, though it should be noted that top outfield prospectOwen Caissie and right-handed pitching prospectJaxon Wiggins, among others, have been more frequently discussed as possible trade chips than Ballesteros.

The Cubs have optioned third basemanMatt Shaw to Triple-A Iowa, reportsKeith Law of The Athletic. That’s part of a larger slate of moves, relayed byJordan Bastian of MLB.com. InfielderVidal Bruján has been reinstated from the 10-day injured list. On the pitching side, the club recalled left-handerLuke Little and right-handerDaniel Palencia. To make room for those two, rightyNate Pearson has been optioned to Iowa as well, while rightyEli Morgan has been placed on the 15-day IL due to an elbow impingement.

Shaw, 23, came into the season as one of the top prospects in the league. The club clearly believed he was worthy of a shot at the majors, as they tradedIsaac Paredes to the Astros as part of theKyle Tucker deal in the offseason. That didn’t guarantee Shaw a spot on the Opening Day roster but it opened a door for him, which he walked through. He cracked the club’s roster ahead of the Tokyo Series and has been serving as their regular third baseman up until this point.

The results have been mixed. Across his 68 plate appearances thus far, he has drawn a walk in 14.7% of them, but he’s also been struck out at a 26.5% clip. He has a tepid .172/.294/.241 batting line, though with a .231 batting average on balls in play. That number is on the unlucky side but Shaw hasn’t been doing himself many favors in terms of putting good wood on the ball. His 82.7 mile per hour average exit velocity in the second percentile of qualified MLB hitters, per Statcast. His hard-hit rate is in the fifth percentile, his bat speed in the tenth and his barrel rate 15th. His defense has also been a bit of a question mark. In 141 innings at third base thus far, he already has four errors.

All of that is surely less than the Cubs were hoping for, as he destroyed minor league pitching. After getting selected with the 13th overall pick in the 2023 draft, Shaw got into 159 minor league games between that draft selection and the end of the 2024 season. He had solid walk and strikeout rates of 10.2% and 17.3% respectively while slashing .303/.384/.522 for a 157 wRC+. 35 of those games were at the Triple-A level last year and he hit .298/.395/.534 in those, building the case that he was ready for a major league debut.

Shaw is yet another example of a top prospect who didn’t immediately click at the major league level. While some may jump to declare Shaw a “bust”, this sort of thing is actually quite common. A classic example isMike Trout, who hit .220/.281/.390 in his first 135 plate appearances back in 2011. It can’t be assumed that a prospect will immediately succeed when reaching the majors for the first time, nor does it mean that they won’t ever find success down the line.

Sending Shaw down is defensible in a vacuum, given his struggles. But outside the vacuum, it’s unclear who the Cubs can turn to as a better option for the hot corner. Bruján has a .189/.261/.270 batting line in his career.Justin Turner has lots of third base experience but is now 40 years old. He’s been more of a first base/designated hitter type in recent years, with just 90 innings at the hot corner since the end of the 2022 season. He’s also having his own struggles at the plate this year, with a .172/.286/.172 line thus far.Jon Berti is a 35-year-old veteran utility guy.Gage Workman is a Rule 5 guy who has received just ten plate appearances thus far this year and has been punched out in five of them.

It’s possible this is just a short-term situation and Shaw will be back up with the big league club soon. How long it takes for his return will be significant for him and the club. By cracking the Opening Day roster, he was on pace to get a full year of service time in 2025. That would have meant qualifying for arbitration after 2027 and free agency after 2030. A quick return to the majors could still make those targets viable. A major league season is 187 days long but a player needs just 172 days in the big leagues or on the injured list to get credited with a full year. It’s also possible for Shaw to qualify for arbitration after 2027 even with less than three years of service time, as he could reach Super Two status.

If Shaw doesn’t return fairly quickly, those timelines will be pushed one year into the future. It will also take off the possibility of the Cubs earning an extra draft pick via the prospect promotion incentive. Under the PPI rules, teams can earn an extra pick by carrying a top prospect on the roster long enough to earn a full service year. The Cubs put that on the table initially by giving Shaw an Opening Day job but it will no longer apply if he’s down for a few weeks.

Photo courtesy of Sergio Estrada, Imagn Images

TheCardinals placedNolan Gorman on the 10-day injured list yesterday (retroactive to April 2), and called up infielderThomas Saggese from Triple-A in the corresponding roster move.  Gorman is suffering from a right hamstring strain that he suffered while running the bases in last Tuesday’s game, though Gorman toldDerrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and other reporters that the strain is “super-mild.”  While the injury prevents Gorman from fielding at the moment, he is still able to hit and catch, so he’ll be able to continue with baseball activities while on the IL.

Gorman has delivered four hits (including a homer and a double) in his first nine plate appearances of the season, as he enters what might be a pivot point in his young career.  The former top prospect has shown flashes of his potential over his first three MLB seasons, but his production trailed off badly in 2024, to the point that the Cards optioned Gorman to Triple-A last August.  The crowded nature of the Cards lineup also means that Gorman isn’t getting everyday playing time, and he’ll have to keep hitting in order to carve out more of a regular role.  Missing time to an injury won’t help these endeavors, but it seems like Gorman might just miss the minimum 10 days.

More from around the NL Central…

• Bryan Reynolds has been limited to DH duty over thePirates’ last four games, as the right fielder’s throwing ability has been hampered by right triceps soreness.  There isn’t any indication that Reynolds will need an IL stint since he’s still able to hit, though Reynolds has slashed only .194/.237/.306 in his first 38 PA of the season.  With Reynolds now in the designated hitter spot, regular DHAndrew McCutchen will be getting some more action in the outfield, after appearing in only 13 games as an outfielder over the previous two seasons.  McCutchen welcomed the return to the grass and praised Reynolds’ toughness, tellingMLB.com’s Alex Stumpf that “it shows the character of him and what he brings to the team. A lot of people would say, ’Give me an IL stint and I’ll come back.’ He’s still capable and able to swing it….Unfortunately, he’s not 100 percent already in the season, but he’s going to do his job, and we’re going to do our best to support that and not make him feel like he has to rush back.”
• ManagerCraig Counsell providedthe Chicago Sun-Times’ Maddie Lee and other reporters with updates on two players on theCubs’ injured list.  UtilitymanVidal Brujan has been set back by some continued soreness in his right elbow, though Counsell said an MRI showed “nothing substantial.”  Right-handerJavier Assad had a two-inning outing in extended Spring Training yesterday, and should have two or three more similar outings before he starts a minor league rehab assignment.  Assad missed all of Spring Training due to a left oblique strain, so he’ll need a good deal of ramp-up time before he is ready to be activated from the 15-day IL.

The Cubs announced Thursday that they’ve designated right-handerCody Poteet for assignment. His spot on the roster will go to rightyBrad Keller, who has now formally been selected to the roster. The Cubs also placed rightiesTyson Miller (left hip impingement), rightyRyan Brasier (groin strain) and infielder/outfielderVidal Brujan (elbow sprain) on the injured list and recalled rightyEli Morgan from Triple-A Iowa.

Poteet, 30, was the lone player the Cubsreceived in the trade sendingCody Bellinger to the Yankees. That swap was always more about dumping Bellinger’s salary than adding to the system, and today’s DFA only further underscores that reality.

A fourth-rounder by the Marlins in 2015, Poteet has pitched in parts of three big league seasons between Miami and New York. He posted a 2.22 ERA in 24 1/3 frames for the Yanks last year and carries an overall 3.80 mark in 83 MLB innings. He was sharp in 53 minor league innings last year as well, recording a 3.40 ERA. Poteet isn’t a flamethrower, sitting 93.8 mph with his four-seamer and 92.6 mph with his sinker. He complements those fastballs with a slider, curveball and changeup, rounding out a five-pitch arsenal.

Poteet has punched out 20.2% of his big league opponents against a 10.2% walk rate. Both are worse than average, though not necessarily by wide margins. In parts of five Triple-A campaigns, he’s logged a 4.47 ERA with a 21.7% strikeout rate and 8.1% walk rate. Poteet still has a pair of minor league options remaining, so if a team acquires him in a trade or claims him off waivers, he can be optioned directly to Triple-A. That could make him an appealing target for clubs seeking affordable rotation depth.

The Cubs owed Bellinger $52.5MM over the next two seasons, though he can opt out of the contract this year and trim $20MM off that guarantee if he feels there are greener pastures in free agency. Chicago paid $5MM of that sum to help facilitate the swap but saved $47.5MM overall. Bellinger was seen as a poor fit on the roster, withIan Happ,Pete Crow-Armstrong,Kyle Tucker andSeiya Suzuki in the outfield mix andMichael Busch at first base. Time will tell whether the club is better off for it, but for the moment the only thing they have to show for the trade is salary relief and about $25MM of breathing room between the current payroll and the luxury tax threshold.

The Cubs reassigned infielderNicky Lopez to minor league camp earlier today in a move that effectively removes the 29-year-old from consideration for the club’s roster for the Tokyo Series against the Dodgers next week. As noted byMaddie Lee of the Chicago Sun Times, Lopez’s contract with the Cubs affords him an opt-out opportunity if he’s not added to the 40-man roster by the end of Spring Training, andPatrick Mooney of The Athletic reports that he’s “expected” to look for opportunities elsewhere going forward, though Lee notes that it’s theoretically possible the Cubs’ infield situation could change before he can officially opt out when camp comes to a close at the end of the month.

Lopez, 30 later this month, was a fifth-round pick by the Royals back in 2016. He made it to the majors during the 2019 season and showed off an impressive glove all around the infield, but he struggled badly at the plate with a slash line of just .240/.276/.325 (56 wRC+). It was more of the same for Lopez in a regular role with the club during the shortened 2020 season, but he enjoyed something of a breakout campaign in 2021. Lopez hit .300/.365/.378, good for a 104 wRC+, but that essentially league average production combined with his elite defense at shortstop to make for a 5.5 fWAR season.

Unfortunately, that massive success appears to have been a clear outlier. He posted a .347 batting average on balls in play that year, despite never posting a figure higher than .288 in any other season of his career to this point. Lopez’s wOBA outstripped his xwOBA by nearly 50 points, putting his expected numbers more in line with his lackluster 2020 season than his actual results in 2021. Given all of that, it wasn’t exactly a surprise when Lopez came crashing back down to Earth with a 55 wRC+ the following year.

Since the start of the 2023 season, Lopez has bounced between the Royals, Braves, and White Sox in a bench role, having lost the starting job he held during his early years with Kansas City. He’s settled in as a decent glove-first utility option, offering quality defense all over the infield despite a below-average .238/.317/.299 (77 wRC+) slash line over the past two seasons. He has solid plate discipline, as evidenced by a 15.1% strikeout rate and 8.9% walk rate over the past two seasons, but that’s held back by his complete lack of power. Lopez has just seven home runs across 670 big league games to this point in his career, and his .061 ISO the past two seasons is the second lowest of any player with at least 700 plate appearances in that timeframe.

Given Lopez’s relative lack of offensive upside and options likeVidal Brujan and Rule 5 pickGage Workman who are already on the club’s 40-man roster, it’s perhaps not a major surprise that the club is willing to risk Lopez departing the organization. WithJustin Turner,Carson Kelly, andJon Berti all already locked into the Cubs bench mix, the club already had just one spot left available for the aforementioned trio of utility infielders. Workman and Brujan figured to have a leg up on Lopez throughout the process due to their roster status, combined with the more flexible roster rules of the Tokyo series that figure to allow Chicago to bring both players to Japan and put off making a decision between the pair until the club’s first stateside game against the Diamondbacks on March 27.

1:28pm:The deal is now official, per a club announcement by the Marlins.

12:27pm:The Marlins are set to acquire first basemanMatt Mervis from the Cubs, according to a report fromAram Leighton of Just Baseball.ESPN’s Jeff Passan reports that infielderVidal Bruján is headed to Chicago in exchange for Mervis’s services. Brujan had beendesignated for assignment by the Marlins last week.Maddie Lee of the Sun Times also reports that the Cubs are sending cash to Miami alongside Mervis.

Mervis, 26, signed with the Cubs as an undrafted free agent back in 2020. After struggling in his first taste of professional action in 2021, the slugger tore up the minor leagues in 2022, slashing an excellent .309/.379/.606 with 40 doubles and 36 homers in 137 games across three levels of the minors. That included a long run of success at the Triple-A level, where he hit .297/.383/.593 with 15 doubles and 15 homers in just 57 games. The performance was strong enough to earn Mervis some top-100 prospect buzz during the 2022-23 offseason, and his rapid ascent through the minors provided some optimism for a Cubs franchise that had recently dealt longtime first basemanAnthony Rizzo to the Yankees prior to the trade deadline in 2021.

Unfortunately, Mervis wasn’t able to make the most of his opportunity when he first reached the big leagues in 2023. While he continued to rake at Triple-A (.282/.399/.533 in 100 games), he struggled badly in 99 big league plate appearances with a lackluster .167/.242/.289 slash line that was good for a 48 wRC+ that year. Strong batted ball data and a .317 xwOBA indicated that Mervis may have been slightly unlucky in his first cup of coffee in the majors, but his hefty 32.3% strikeout rate would’ve been a significant red flag even if he had gotten better fortune in terms of batted balls finding holes. That led the Cubs to pivot away from Mervis last winter, trading for Dodgers prospectMichael Busch and installing him as the club’s everyday first baseman.

Busch took off as an above-average hitter right out of the gate with Chicago, posting a 119 wRC+ and 2.3 fWAR in his rookie season. Mervis, by contrast, appeared in just nine games and posted a dreadful -4 wRC+ in that limited playing time. Even his minor league numbers took a step back this year, as he hit just .235/.329/.434 (97 wRC+) in 81 games at Triple-A this past season. All this made Mervis entirely expendable for Chicago, so the club opting to trade him is hardly a shock. With a rebuilding Marlins club, the Triple-A slugger figures to get a larger big league opportunity than he ever received in Chicago. He’ll compete for playing time at first base with incumbent first basemanJonah Bride, who impressed with a 123 wRC+ in 71 games for the Marlins last year but has yet to complete a wire-to-wire season in the majors ate age 29.

While Mervis is hardly a surefire big league piece, the Marlins are giving up very little to land him. Bruján, 27, was DFA’d by the Marlins last week to clear 40-man roster space after he struggled to produce as a big league regular in 2024. Once a consensus top-100 prospect with the Rays, Bruján failed to hit at all in 99 games with Tampa across three seasons before being dealt to Miami last winter. The Marlins made him a fixture of their bench mix this year, but he hit just .222/.303/.319 (73 wRC+) in 278 trips to the plate. Despite that lackluster performance at the plate, Brujan did provide some modest value as a decent baserunner and an extremely versatile fielder. The switch-hitter mostly split his time between shortstop, second base, and third base in Miami last year but is also capable of playing all three outfield spots and even made brief cameos at first base and on the pitchers mound last year.

That should be enough to earn Brujan the opportunity to compete for a bench job with the Cubs this spring. Chicago has completely overhauled their bench mix this offseason, parting ways withChristian Bethancourt,Mike Tauchman,Nick Madrigal, andPatrick Wisdom last month to make way for alternative options.Carson Kelly joined the club’s roster to form a tandem withMiguel Amaya that will occupy one bench spot, and outfielderAlexander Canario currently seems poised to act as the club’s reserve outfielder behindIan Happ,Pete Crow-Armstrong,Seiya Suzuki, andKyle Tucker. That leaves two spots up for grabs, and Brujan currently appears poised to compete with Rule 5 draft selectionGage Workman and internal optionsMiles Mastrobuoni andLuis Vasquez for those two spots, though another external addition could certainly grab at least one of those bench roles and only the catching tandem appears to be completely locked in for 2025.

The Marlins announced they have signed infielder/outfielderEric Wagaman to a one-year major league deal. InfielderVidal Bruján has been designated for assignment as the corresponding move. Salary figures for Wagaman weren’t reported but it’s likely near the major league minimum since the Paragon Sports International client just made his major league debut this year.Daniel Álvarez-Montes of El Extrabase reported on the signing prior to the official announcement.

Wagaman, 27, was drafted by the Yankees and spent his entire career with that club until about a year ago, when the Angels plucked him away in the minor league phase of the 2023 Rule 5 draft. After a strong season in the minors, the Angels called him up to the big leagues on September 10. He got into 18 games down the stretch as the club was playing out a losing season, stepping to the plate 74 times and hitting .250/.270/.403. He was non-tendered at the end of the year, sending him to free agency without being exposed to waivers.

That’s a very small sample size and the Marlins probably aren’t giving it much weight. He has 897 minor league plate appearances over the past three years, with some intriguing numbers in that larger sample. He hit 35 home runs, struck out just 16.9% of the time and drew walks at a 9.5% clip. He has a combined batting line of .276/.348/.473 over those three seasons, which translates to a 129 wRC+.

He also stole 26 bases in that stretch, getting caught seven times. Defensively, Wagaman was mostly a first baseman with the Yankees but the Angels fanned him out a bit, having him line up at first but also third base and the outfield corners this year.

The rebuilding Marlins have very little settled in their position player mix. At last year’s deadline, they traded awayJazz Chisholm Jr.,Josh Bell andBryan De La Cruz. This offseason, they’ve sentJake Burger packing as well. None of the position players on the roster have even four years of major league service time.Jesús Sánchez is the only guy with more than three, whileNick Fortes andDerek Hill are the only guys with more than two.

In short, there’s very little written in stone. Sánchez will likely have a corner outfield job but is a candidate to be traded if the Marlins get an offer they like.Connor Norby,Jonah Bride,Griffin Conine,Deyvison De Los Santos,Kyle Stowers and others are candidates for jobs in the corners but they are all fairly inexperienced. Wagaman has a full slate of options, so he can provide minor league depth at various spots or battle for a big league job. He has just a few days of service time and can be cheaply retained into the future if he continues to hang onto his roster spot.

Bruján, 27 in February, was once a top 100 prospect but he hasn’t yet lived up to that hype. He was praised for his speed, athleticism, plate discipline and ability to play multiple positions. Unfortunately, he hasn’t been able to do enough damage with the bat to make an impact. He has stepped to the plate 550 times over the past four seasons, with five home runs and a .189/.261/.270 batting line. He has swiped 14 bags but he’s also been caught 13 times.

DFA limbo normally lasts a week but recent years have seen that clock paused over the period from Christmas to New Year’s. On this date last year, Ryan Jensen was designated for assignment by the Marlins and he wasn’t claimed off waivers by the Twins until January 4, over two weeks later. That will give the Fish some time to see if any club is interested in taking a flier on Bruján.

For what it’s worth, the minor league results have continued to be good, even as he has floundered in the majors. He has just over a thousand Triple-A plate appearances over the past four years and has slashed .272/.357/.451 in those for a wRC+ of 113. He is out of options but he has less than three years of service time, meaning he can provide four years of club control if any team is willing to give him a roster spot. He has played every position except catcher, giving him plenty of ways to theoretically slot into a club’s plans.